New Beginnings
by TastySparks
Summary: Jack is new in town and immediately falls for the shy girl behind the clinical counter, Elli. Likewise, she can't help but feel drawn to the mysterious city boy and his gentle nature. This is their love story.
1. The Day We Met

_Chapter 1: The Day We Met_

It had been a slow clinic day. Elli manned the front desk with one hand on her head for support. She was half asleep after last night's struggles to get Stu to go to sleep and she would have liked nothing better than to doze off.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

A pile of papers greeted her desk, courtesy of Doctor Trent. "Elli, I'm going to need these done by tomorrow. Think you can manage?" He asked, signing away on his clipboard and not stopping to look at her.

Elli snapped out of her reverie, blushing lightly. "Of course doctor, I'll have these at your desk by tomorrow morning."

"So reliable, as always. Thanks Elli" Trent said as he walked back to his desk.

She stared at the massive amount of forms needing to be filled out and sighed. Her life was made up of paperwork, taking care of her little brother Stu and their sick grandmother, Ellen.

Often times she felt like it was all slipping away from her. The other girls in Mineral Town lived it up every day as far as she could tell from her friend Popuri's midnight adventure stories.

Maybe it was time to find a new profession? But how could she when she was half in love with the young doctor of the town?

The door to the clinic burst open, making Elli jump from her seat. She felt incredibly silly and turned to apologize to the patient when she caught her first look at a boy her age dressed in blue farming overalls and a cap, his brown hair barely contained inside so that some poked out, a small dog whimpering in his arms.

That's where it all started.

xXx

_Jack's Turn_

"Are you the nurse? I need help" I could feel Yoshi trembling in my arms. The wounds looked nastier every time I saw them.

The nurse in dressed in white, a girl about my age with short, brown hair shrieked loudly and skyrocketed off her chair at the sight of me.

I couldn't blame her with the way we both looked. My clothes were torn in many places and my skin might as well have been an ancient rune tabloid with all these scratch marks over me. Yoshi got the worst of it though.

"Goddess, what happened?" The nurse asked, looking from me to the dog and back again to me as she grabbed the phone and dialed a number.

"Wild dog. We tried to shoo it off the farm and it ended up being do or die" I said, stroking Yoshi's blood caked coat.

"Please, I know this isn't the vets, but can't you do something?"

Yoshi was covered in even more scars. A particularly angry one traveled across his cheek, which was bleeding heavily.

The nurse ushered us to the left wing of the clinic into one of the patient rooms and took Yoshi into her arms.

"Poor doggie" She lamented as she set him down on the patient bed. The nurse opened one of the many cabinets in the room and began working on Yoshi's wounds.

"Are wild dogs this common here?" I dared to ask her, watching as Yoshi whimpered in pain at the treatment. I flinched, almost unable to stand seeing my dog this way.

The nurse gave me a quizzical glance, as if I had asked a really stupid question. Suddenly, the doctor came in through the curtains of the room and greeted me, taking the nurse's place as she moved out of the way.

"A wild dog eh? Well I've never seen a case this bad here. Where did you say you found the dog?" The doctor asked me as he stitched up my dog.

"At my new farm. It just suddenly jumped out of nowhere. The place is such a mess that I never saw him coming" I replied. Both the nurse and the doctor exchanged puzzled looks.

"Are you the new farmer down at the old man's?" The nurse asked me, surprise etched in those beautiful caramel colored eyes. I didn't answer immediately, mesmerized by how beautiful they looked, until she cocked her head to the side slightly, as if wondering whether I understood English.

"Hold on" She said, removing a little flashlight from her dress pocket. She got close to me and pushed up my eye lids, examining my pupils.

"You have some wounds too. You're in pain" She said, frowning as she took another look at my torn clothes. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Oh, It's fine really"

"It is not! Let me get the peroxide. Come with me" The nurse said worriedly, studying the cuts in my arms.

"But..my dog" I hesitated. The doctor nodded at me, "Don't worry I'll take good care of him. Go get that arm bandaged."

"I can't believe you're the one that's going to take over the farm down south" The nurse smiled at me as led me to the room next door. "It's been such an eyesore for the past few years. It always makes me miss that old man."

"You knew him?" I asked curiously. The nurse nodded, taking my arm and pulling back the sleeves to reveal angry red cuts.

"I used to play in his farm all the time when I was a little girl."

"Me too. I came here once, on vacation. He took us in and since then we've been writing letters back and forth. They called me down because of his will." I explained. A sharp pain made me bite my tongue as the nurse applied the peroxide into the cut.

"Well your dog is adorable" The nurse smiled. She was so pretty, I couldn't help but smile back sheepishly. "I love dogs. Yours is really cute. I think he'll be just fine."

"You think so?" I asked, my mind returning to my pal in the room next door. "If it hadn't been for him that dog would've killed me. Maybe even literally."

The nurse laughed but it was a really wonderful laugh. It was sweet and it made my head spin. I wondered if it was just the pain getting to me and I was going crazy.

"Don't worry, I can have Gotz stop by and remove the dog. He's good with that sort of thing, you'll like him." The nurse promised, wrapping up the bandage and smiling cutely at me.

I don't know about Gotz, but I was sure starting to like this girl.

"C'mon, let's go see what the doctor has to say about Yoshi."

She led me back to the first room, where the long faced doctor was stroking his chin as he studied my dog. Once we came in his face lit up a little.

"Good news. I'll have him stay over at Barley's for a few days just to make sure, he's good with dogs. But I've treated most of his wounds and I think he's going to be fine."

I knelt down beside my dog, stroking his head gently. "You hear that buddy? You're going to be just fine."

"I can get Barley's address for you. It's right around the corner from your farm. Come with me." The nurse said, heading back to her desk. I thanked the doctor and followed her, Yoshi jumping into my arms.

The girl gave me several calling cards, including the clinic's. "Just in case you need to come back for whatever reason. Barley's number and Gotz's number is also there."

Amazed at how helpful she had been, I smiled brightly at her. "Thank you. You've been a real help…uh"

The nurse blinked in surprise, blushing profusely. "Oh, I'm so sorry. All this time and I haven't even told you my name! I'm Elli" She smiled apologetically.

"Nonsense, better late than never. Right Yoshi?" I grinned at the dog, who barked with approval.

Elli giggled, extending her arm to pet the small dog. Yoshi licked her and closed his eyes as she did so, which made Elli's cheeks burn bright pink. "He's so cute! I hope recovers really fast."

"He'll have plenty of space to roam around in the new farm. You should visit sometime and say hello, he likes guests." I blurted out the last part and immediately wished I hadn't been so stupid! But Elli just nodded, her eyes lighting up.

"That sounds great! Maybe I'll stop by soon enough…umm" She smiled shyly, cocking her head slightly to the side, which made her look even more adorable. It was a while before I caught on to what she was looking for.

"Oh! I'm Jack. Nice to meet you."

Elli smiled brightly "Nice to meet you too, Jack."

xXx

I was worried about the dog, who barked eagerly as we walked down to Barley's place. But I just couldn't stop thinking about Elli back at the clinic.

I found myself reliving the entire thing in my head over and over, until I finally decided that maybe the wild dog had actually been a blessing in disguise.

I entered Barley's farm, which had cows feeding on some grass in the distance. Inside the shop as soon as I entered I got a whiff of fresh milk just taken in. The old man barley was a short man with very long white beard and round spectacles.

He welcomed me eagerly, even after I told him about needing a favor in Yoshi staying here for a couple of days.

"He doesn't look like he sustained any long term damage" The old man coughed, taking Yoshi from my hands and setting him down to play with his own female dog. Yoshi barked and wagged his tail happily.

"You come by and we'll get you some cows, eh? And maybe some sheep while we're at it" Barley chuckled, watching the two dogs play.

I crossed my arms and smiled. There was a lot of work to be done on the farm before I even thought of cows. "I'll let you know when I'm ready. I got a few repairs I need to do to the barn first."

"You can get Gotz to do those for ya, he's the master woodsman."

I shook my head. I had already looked at Gotz prices in the card Elli gave me. There was no way I could afford to hire him when I barely had enough to scrape by for dinner today.

"I'll have to do it myself. Thanks for taking care of Yoshi, Barley." I waved to the dog and departed to my farm. It was 5pm and the townspeople were spilling into the streets.

Some of them walked past without even noticing me and others pointed fingers and whispered among themselves.

I had resolved to keep mostly to myself and let whatever rumors existed fly. I was here for the farm and nothing else.

"The stores may be closing for the day, but I can still get something done."

With that thought, I began to run towards the woods in search of Gotz. He'll have to get that wild dog out of my farm first.

* * *

I remember playing this game and being so addicted! It's a pretty old game but not ancient. I remember the first girl I ever married in the game was Elli, and after that I couldn't bring myself to marry someone else. Weak, I know. But for now, tell me what you think!


	2. A Welcome Visitor

My mistake on taking a bit longer than I intended on this chapter, but I hope it's worth it. I just wanted to clarify that this story will be written from Jack and Elli's point of views, switching with the chapters. The first few paragraphs from the 1st chapter that were in third person was a one-time thing. So I hope that will straighten any confusion out there and if you have questions let me know.

Thanks to those who reviewed and enjoy.

* * *

_Chapter 2_:_ A Welcome Visitor  
_

_Elli Takes Point_

"You look like you've seen a ghost Elli, has something happened?" Cliff greeted nervously as I sprinted past him.

"Have you seen Stu anywhere?" I asked feverishly without stopping, glancing in every direction for the little brat. He'll be the death of me one day.

"Hey I think I saw him heading for Jack's farm not too long ago. You can probably still-" Cliff's voice trailed off as I ran towards the old farm without another thought.

"That boy! Oh, what was he thinking?" I thought, angrily pushing my hair back. Leaving Cliff hanging like that made me feel bad too, I was a mess. I didn't even have a chance to brush my hair when grandma told me Stu took off.

Of course it's not her fault. She can barely move since she's been paralyzed so it's up to me to put my brother in his place. Sometimes I wonder why the Harvest Goddess places all the burden on me like this.

To my left I passed by Poultry farm and Rick feeding the chickens. He noticed me as I walked by and waved.

"Hey Elli! Nice morning eh? Are you here to see Popuri?"

The chickens were so cute! They got me every time. I remember chasing them all over the old man's farm when I was little.

"Is Popuri even up this early?"

"Good point. She does need her beauty sleep after all..whatever that means" The blonde, spectacled boy said as he rolled his eyes.

I reached out to pet one from the fence but the little chicken ran away peeping madly with his small wings spread out.

Popuri was lucky to live in a farm with all these chickens! I think if I had a farm, chickens would be the first thing I'd buy.

"They're noisy little chickies but I don't even need an alarm clock" Rick smiled, folding up the empty rice sack. "Can I help with anything?"

"Have you seen Stu walking this way?"

"Well yeah, he was just here a second ago. I think he went over to Jack's, there's been a heck of a lot of noise coming from over there lately." He added that last bit not so enthusiastically. I could tell Rick still hadn't adjusted to someone new on the street. Takes him awhile with all that paranoia about someone whisking his sister away.

I said goodbye to Rick and followed the street all the way down past Yodel Ranch until the white fences came into view, as well as the wide open field of grass land.

The grass had grown to an incredible size with so many years going untrimmed, as if they were aiming to reach the sun. I hesitated, scanning the area for any sign of Stu. I saw Jack's small house not too far away but the lights were off.

I didn't like trespassing like this but I had to find Stu. Going inside, a set of tools were lying on the ground beside the service box which I recognized as where all the crops go for selling.

As I looked to the far right near his house there was a small patch of land that had already been cleared. Jack must've already gotten started on tilling it for the season.

I was impressed at how he had gotten started so quickly. If it had been me with a farm in such a condition I might've hesitated a couple of times first.

"Maybe one of the tools broke and he's at the Smith's getting it repaired" I thought, gingerly going around the tools toward the barn and stables. There was no sign of Stu and I hoped he wasn't lost in that huge jungle of grass and rocks.

The barn was in terrible shape and it seemed about to collapse at any moment. Parts of the roof had caved in, leaving a gaping hole for the weather to beat through.

"Stu? Are you here?" I called out, looking inside the abandoned barn. The stalls for the cows and sheep were empty and there were patches of old hay lying around. Heading out I heard a loud giggling nearby, the kind Stu makes when I tickle him mercilessly till he listens to me.

"Wheeee! I'm a cowboy!" Stu's voice rang, becoming clearer the closer I got to the stable.

"If you give a light tap with your boots the horse will go faster and that's how you pick up speed" Another voice piped up.

I peeked by the stable's entrance "Stu?"

"Elli!" Stu's face lit up in surprise and then it dawned on him why I was here, making him not so happy to see me.

He was sitting on a brown horse and slowly he lowered tiny upper body till his face was almost hidden behind the horse's thick, black mane.

"I didn't know you'd catch up this quickly!" he said, looking at Jack for some sort of divine intervention. The brown haired boy just smiled at me and waved in welcome as I entered the stable. It was good to see Stu wasn't hurt and for that I sighed with relief.

And then I gave my little brother the meanest stare I could muster.

"Stu! You know you're not supposed to go anywhere on your own like that! Especially trespassing on someone's property!"

I turned to Jack with an apologetic smile, I was totally embarrassed at the trouble my brother would get himself into. "I'm sorry Jack, Stu is just impossible sometimes..I hope he did not make too much trouble for you."

Jack gave a soft chuckle, stroking the horse right between the eyes with his finger.

"It's no problem really, I was just showing Stu how to mount Blaze here. Blaze likes the little guy, I think even more than me." The horse snorted at his affectionate touch.

I had to admit I was a bit surprised at how fast he had already managed to buy a horse so soon after starting. Animals were really expensive creatures from what I always saw in Popuri's farm. If a chicken could cost my half-weeks' worth, imagine horses!

As if reading my thoughts Jack immediately revealed the answer. "I actually only just got him from old man Barley in Yodel Farm. He came by and gave him to me as a little house warming gift."

My face reddened at that, I was so preoccupied at the clinic that I had forgotten to even make a simple welcoming gift for him! It's tradition in Mineral Town for newcomers, especially with such a close-knit community.

Luckily, Jack did not notice my little blushing fest and continued right on. "I've decided to name him Blaze. He's a stubborn young horse, won't take his medicine when I give it to him."

I had no idea that the horse was sick, he looked so fit and strong. Blaze turned his majestic head towards me and I looked into his deep eyes. I could see myself in them! Poor little guy..

"But then Stu came along just as I was getting him today's medicine and he stopped struggling. He did a good job right bud?" Jack said, taking my brother in his arms and lowering him down from the horse.

"You should have seen how I rode Blaze all around the farm Elli! Jack walked us around and it was awesome!" Stu said excitedly.

He clutched the ends of my long skirt and pulled at them with his tiny fists, looking up at me eagerly with his puppy eyes.

"You have let me visit again! Will you, huh, will you!?"

"Jack could give me a ride again, right Jack?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

I blushed at the racket Stu was making. He usually did that whenever he wanted something and I just couldn't handle it sometimes. I certainly didn't want to go through a scene in front of Jack.

"Stu..Jack's very busy with the farm to give you rides whenever you want. You really shouldn't just go barging into other people's homes like today anyway."

"Aww..you're such a meanie you know that? Jack doesn't mind, right Jack?"

"Stu! Give it a rest!"

It came out more forcefully than I wanted to buy I was really tired from last night's work. Stu's eyes watered and I sighed, trying to calm him down.

"I could give him a ride sometime Elli. I'm always here and it's no problem" Jack's voice piped up, smiling at my little brother. "We could take Blaze for a walk around every other day and see if he gets better."

Stu immediately brightened up, his tears vanishing as if they never existed. I tried to get Jack not to go through the trouble since Stu was just Stu but he shook his head.

"It would be no problem. I can tell Stu really likes horses. I remember the old man took me riding on one of his own when I was his age." He grinned at me as Stu bounced up and around the stable and as he petted the sick horse.

I was surprised at Jack's kind offer but I didn't want him to go through the trouble just out of pity for me.

"Are you sure? I know you must be busy and he can be such a bother sometimes."

"Absolutely not. And Blaze here seems to like him.."

Suddenly he raised an eyebrow at me with a playful look on his face.

"Have you ever rode a horse?" he asked softly.

"Me?" The thought of me on a horse was something I've always dreamed of, riding on the open plains and away from the stress for awhile..Sadly I've never taken lessons much less seen one in person before this.

There was a twinkle in Jack's eyes as he saw my longing.

"If you want you can stop by with Stu and ride him for a while also, once he gets better. Blaze seems to like you too, I can tell by the way he keeps snorting impatiently when you looked into his eyes. That means he wants to go out for a walk with you."

I gave a small giggle as Blaze gave a soft snort and stomped lightly on the ground, his head bobbing up and down almost as if in agreement.

It would be nice to get away from work and clear my head. I looked at Jack with a tortured face. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. "Are you sure we wouldn't be..?"

Jack gave me a warm smile and my heart fluttered a bit, catching me by surprise. I usually only felt that around the doctor. I could feel myself blushing lightly.

After saying good bye to Blaze Jack walked us back to the entrance, but only after I fought with Stu so he could let go of the horse.

"I'll see you soon then" He gave Stu a reassuring smile and then looked at me. "If you ever need anything just stop by too. And I hope you come by for some horse riding lessons sometime."

"Thanks for everything Jack." For some reason I could barely bring myself to look straight at him. I felt different but not necessarily in a bad way. Maybe it was just the way Jack was so good with kids that had caught me off guard?

I looked at Stu as an excuse so Jack wouldn't catch me being so weird.

"What do we say Stu?" I asked softly.

My brother flashed the brown haired boy a bright smile and yelled rather obnoxiously "Thank you!"

I rolled my eyes at Jack and smiled. As we left I looked back and saw him waving us off until we turned the corner and he disappeared.

xXx

After a day at the clinic all I wanted to do was crawl in bed and have horses riding through my dreams. The Harvest Goddess didn't seem to agree with me however, as a blur of pink hair suddenly locked her arm around mine and began pulling me down the street.

"Popuri!"

"You didn't forget did you? We're all going down for something to eat at the inn!"

I sighed and plopped my head on her shoulder wearily.

"Must I really go tonight?" I moaned, my voice muffled on her shoulder.

"No exceptions" Popuri answered cheerfully.

The inn was a popular night stop for many and the owner Doug was a hard working and respected man.

"The usual?" He asked from behind the counter as we strolled to the table where all our friends were.

"I'll have a simple tropical juice" I said, smiling wearily.

"Juice?" Rick laughed as he got up to let us sit in. "It's not breakfast time you know."

The group was gathered around the table and like on most days it consisted of Cliff, Rick, Popuri, and Gray. It wasn't along after I sat down that Doug's flamboyant daughter Ann came waltzing for a seat too. She exhaled heavily and shook her head, slumping down next to Gray.

"Killer hours these past few weekends with the spring horse races about to start. Loads of people coming in from other towns." Ann said.

Gray fastened his old white cap and gave a grim "hmm". I could tell he was bothered so I decided to ask him. "Is everything okay down at the smith's, Gray?"

He looked at me with a uncomfortable intensity before blurting out "That old man is insane! Nothing is good enough for him. I'm starting to think maybe becoming a black smith is a bad idea."

"Saibara is still giving you a hard time?" Cliff squeaked out. He was the quietest in our group and sort of a nomad wandering from place to place. I wasn't sure if he had still settled in even after being in town for almost half a year now.

"You bet. Man, sometimes I wish I would've just stayed in the city." Gray said, drinking a glass of water and sighing.

Popuri clicked her tongue at us and we all turned our attention towards her as she stroked her long, pink hair. "All of you are such downers. You got to look at the bright side of things."

"Such as? We don't all have a special someone that's coming this summer like you Popuri." Ann said, rolling her eyes and making Popuri blush.

She fidgeted with her hair and frowned "Maybe you should try the new farmer Ann, I hear he's quite the looker." She said as a matter-of-fact. Now it was Ann's turn to be embarrassed while I caught Cliff looking away darkly.

Doug came to our table and set down some drinks, including my tropical juice which I downed eagerly. The cold drink was an instant refresher.

"Ahh" I let out, making some of my friends snicker. Rick pushed away his drink and leaned forward to look at me.

"Did you ever find Stu this morning in Jack's place?"

The mere mention of Jack made me open my eyes abruptly and I suddenly got this warm feeling in my stomach.

"You went to Jack's place?" Popuri asked, leaning in and using both her hands to rest her head as if expecting some kind of long story from me.

"Yeah, why? Haven't you guys been to visit yet?" I tried to act as innocently as possible, not even sure why I needed to try at all. Jack's been on my mind all day so it's gotten me kind of nervous.

"The guy's a creep." Gray said simply and we all stared at him. I wasn't expecting something like that even from Gray, who was the harshest out of all of us.

"I've seen him walking around like he's some sort of superior being compared to us." Rick added, nodding in approval to Gray's assessment.

Popuri pitched in excitedly, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I heard he's a bad boy from the city, got in trouble over there for something and came over looking for a clean slate."

Ann rolled her eyes. I could only sit there speechless. None of the impressions I got from Jack were anything to make me believe he was some sort of criminal. In fact, it was the opposite.

"Popuri, the queen of drama queens" Ann said, catching my stunned face and shaking her head. It's true, Popuri DID go around stretching things and working rumors.

"Don't tell me you're warming up to the new guy, Elli." Popuri giggled, noting how tense I had become despite my best efforts to appear as normal as possible. She never missed a thing.

"What happened to the great doctor you were after? Have you asked him out yet?"

At this I could feel my face begin to grow hot. My friends liked to tease me over my the crush I have for doctor Trent. It's been harder to bear each time since it's been years and I still haven't worked up the courage to tell him anything.

And yet when I tried to think of the doctor right now all I could picture instead was the boy in blue farming overalls.

"You better ask him soon Elli, we've been waiting quite a long time now." Ann teased before rising up and declaring that she had to get back to work. "Make sure you let me know." She winked.

I laughed nervously and nodded, trying to look like I'm too busy drinking to talk. I was tired and tomorrow I had to get up early again. My eyes were getting really heavy.

"That Jack is nothing but trouble Elli." Rick mumbled. "I wouldn't have anything to do with him if I were you, he has something fishy about him."

"He does have that small stream to catch fish. You suck at fishing."

"Popuri!"

After a while we all got up and went home for the night. On my way to my grandma's house I could not wait to tell her about Jack so she could help make some housewarming cookies or something. It seemed like the right thing to do to make him feel at home in town.

As I pulled out my keys I realized I had been skipping cheerfully like a little girl all the way home and my heart started beating unusually fast. I blushed and ducked inside, hoping no one saw me.

I really needed to get some sleep.


End file.
